“It’s a wonderful experience to have somewhere to call home. I haven’t had that for more than six years.” Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Peter lived on the streets of Liverpool, sleeping rough and occasionally in shelters.

Like many homeless people, he was brought into emergency accommodation in April 2020 under the Government’s Everyone In initiative to protect rough sleepers from the coronavirus.

In March 2021, he became the first person to move into a new property created by social housing provider The Riverside Group as part of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme (NSAP).

NSAP is a Government scheme designed to build on the positive effects of Everybody In by providing local authorities and housing associations with funding to create quality homes and support people experiencing homelessness.

In partnership with Liverpool City Council, Riverside received £125,000 from NSAP to repurpose ten terraced houses in the city, turning them into one bed homes where residents who’d experienced homelessness could feel safe, settled and start to think about building a new life.

Each house has been refurbished to new build standard, with the bathroom moved upstairs to increase internal space, new kitchens fitted and furniture and white goods provided to help create homes the residents can be proud of.

More than just a place to live, these homes provide psychological reassurance to residents, helping them to engage with support and begin a new chapter in their lives.

Of the ten residents who’ve moved into the homes since March, one has already made a housing application with Riverside to move into a two bedroom home and is applying for custody of their daughter.

Another had experienced service domestic violence, exploitation and sexual violence during a stay in hostel accommodation. Taking up a property with Riverside has given her her own front door and a home where she’s been able to recover from substance abuse and domestic violence and engage with a wide network of support.

One of the residents has enrolled on a course to improve their English language skills and is hoping to attend university.

Following a long time in prison, another is adapting to mainstream living and giving advice to ex-offender groups and about integrating into the community.

And for others, being allowed to bring their pets into their homes made them feel more secure and enabled them to engage successfully with the support services Riverside offers.

And what about Peter?

Support from Riverside has helped him address issues with alcohol and he’s working alongside a number of agencies to get him back into employment.

“I’m really happy. I have recently passed my security qualification which means I can now start looking for work as well. But for now I’m settling into my new home, which is something I’ve been missing for a very long time.”

Find out more about the Next Steps Accommodation Programme: Next Steps Accommodation Programme

Three North East men have been banned from acting as company directors for five years after they allowed unpermitted and mis-described waste to be deposited on their firm’s land at Bishop Auckland to avoid the costs of legal disposal.

Appearing at Peterlee Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5 October, John Anthony Wood, 54, of St James Fields, Castle Eden, pleaded guilty to neglecting to ensure the conditions of an enforcement notice to remove illegal waste from the site was adhered to, while David Langhorne, 58, of Beaconsfield Street, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to the same offence as well as a separate charge of neglecting to ensure the company complied with its own management systems in relation to pollution prevention.

John Bernard Charles Campbell, 60, of Studland Road, Redcar, Cleveland, had previously pleaded guilty to neglecting to ensure the conditions of an enforcement notice to remove illegal waste from the site was adhered to, consenting to the company not complying with its own management systems in relation to pollution prevention and a third change of consenting to receive and deposit waste not authorised by the permit.

All three were sentenced on Tuesday (October 5). As well as being fined a total of more than £2,500 and ordered to pay costs amounting to £16,000, they were disqualified from acting as company directors for five years.

Offences perpetrated for ‘financial gain’

An Environment Agency spokesperson said:

We take a hard line against anyone that intentionally sets out to profit from flouting laws which are in place to protect the environment and communities.

The company’s permit was issued to allow suitable and authorised waste to manufacture a soil. Instead, shredded waste containing plastic, card and wood was deliberately imported, described as soil, and deposited on the company’s land, which in one area had already been covered with a soil cap.

This criminal behaviour was motivated by a willingness to attract business from those companies prepared to travel large distances to avoid paying landfill tax.

During sentencing, the judge noted that the offences were perpetrated for financial gain at a potentially huge environmental cost. The land here was not designed for waste such as this and their actions could have had a really detrimental impact on the environment, as well as undermining local waste operators.

Mixed waste mis-described as soil

The court heard that the three were company directors of the Viridis Group Ltd, which had two environmental permits for a waste transfer station and the manufacture of soil from waste facility at the Old Brickworks at Eldon, Bishop Auckland. The company ceased trading at the end of 2018.

On 21 February 2017, Environment Agency officers visited the site and saw attempts by a vehicle to deposit shredded mixed waste next to an area designated as the soil manufacturing facility. Paperwork from the driver described the waste as ‘soil’, which would attract a lower rate of landfill tax. Officers stopped the mis-described waste from being tipped and noted that a large amount of shredded waste products – around 17,000 cubic metres – rather than soil was on the site, which was a breach of the company’s permit.

Investigations showed the waste mis-described as soil came from Lincolnshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Cumbria and Scotland.

In April 2017 an enforcement notice was issued by the Environment Agency to have the illegal waste removed, but this was not complied with. In the months that followed, the waste, which was dumped on land not authorised or engineered to manage polluting wastes, started to smell and produce a leachate, impacting on the environment.

In sentencing, Wood was fined £700, ordered to pay costs of more than £5,000 and a £70 victim surcharge; Langhorne was fined £1,174, ordered to pay £5,500 in costs and a victim surcharge of £66, and Campbell was fined £640, ordered to pay costs of more than £5,000 and a victim surcharge of £34.

• New Export & Investment dialogue aimed at boosting exports for UK companies
• International Trade Secretary has met with Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation following the G20 meeting in Sorrento
• Italy is the world’s eighth-largest economy and trade between our countries was worth £38bn last year

The International Trade Secretary has announced the start of discussions on a new export and investment partnership between UK and Italy aimed at boosting trade between the two countries.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan made the announcement alongside Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Luigi Di Maio in Sorrento during a trip to Italy for the G20, her first international summit since taking the role.

The dialogue is intended to boost exports for companies in both countries including in high-performing sectors like life sciences, defence and security, as well as growth sectors of the future such as digital and tech.

It will also promote inward investment, including in low-carbon industries such as onshore and offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture storage, plus the food and drink industry and tech sector – where UK’s research and development strengths can help support Italian scale-ups.

The talks will also seek opportunities for greater collaboration and sharing of best practice between the two countries’ export credit organisations – UK Export Finance and the Italian Export Credit Agency – helping SMEs and companies looking to grow.

International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

Enhancing our bilateral relationship with Italy is a win-win, which will boost export opportunities and investment promotion for our businesses.

Italy is our ninth-largest trading partner, while the UK is Italy’s fifth-largest export market – I am delighted we are kicking off this discussion.

The UK and Italy are also working side-by-side to deliver a successful COP26 Summit. The next 18 months are critical for our planet and together we will lead by example to accelerate progress towards a green, resilient and inclusive recovery.

The dialogue is expected to lead to annual ministerial talks and new fora for more regular engagement between both Governments, as well as innovative commercial partnerships and stronger ties between UK and Italian CEOs.

Trade between the UK and Italy was worth more than £34 billion last year. Some of the most popular British products exported to Italy last year included cars worth £829 million– equivalent to 10% of all UK goods exported to Italy – and £383 million worth of medicinal and pharmaceutical products.

British consumers were able to buy £1.2 billion worth of Italian clothing last year and we imported £860 million worth of beverages and over £641 million worth of fruit and vegetables.

The meeting with Italy followed the G20 trade ministers’ summit in Sorrento yesterday. Anne-Marie Trevelyan met with key partners, including India, Singapore and Canada to discuss the global trading system ahead of the twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12) next month.

The UK is pushing to end environmentally wasteful trading practices and will use our new independent seat at the WTO to champion the cause of green trade on the global stage.

The climate emergency can only be successfully tackled through greater focus on adapting to the inevitable climate impacts that we are already seeing, the Environment Agency has warned today (13 October) as it urged world leaders to step up to that challenge at COP26.

In a report to Government, the agency has warned of more extreme weather leading to increased flooding and drought, sea level rises of up to 78cm by the 2080s, and public water supplies needing more than 3.4 billion extra litres of water per day by 2050. It has urged governments, businesses and society to embrace and invest in adaptation, rather than living with the costs of inaction.

With COP26 less than three weeks away, it has welcomed the UK Government’s focus on adaptation as well as mitigation, and the fact that climate adaptation is one of the Summit’s four key goals, but urged that more action is needed at a global level to protect the billions of lives and livelihoods that are at risk.

Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency, said:

The climate crisis is global, but its impacts are in your village, your shop, your home. Adaptation action needs to be integral to government, businesses and communities too and people will soon question why it isn’t – especially when it is much cheaper to invest early in climate resilience than to live with the costs of inaction.

While mitigation might save the planet, it is adaptation, preparing for climate shocks, that will save millions of lives. Choosing one over the other on the basis of a simple either/or calculation is like telling a bird it only needs one wing to fly.

With that in mind, it is deeply worrying that adaptation is in danger of being grievously undercooked at COP26. Not by the UK Government, but by the world at large.

Significant climate impacts are inevitable. We can successfully tackle the climate emergency if we do the right things, but we are running out of time to implement effective adaptation measures. Our thinking must change faster than the climate.

Some 200 people died in this summer’s flooding in Germany. That will happen in this country sooner or later, however high we build our flood defences, unless we also make the places where we live, work and travel resilient to the effects of the more violent weather the climate emergency is bringing. It is adapt or die. With the right approach we can be safer and more prosperous. So let’s prepare, act and survive.

The message comes in the Environment Agency’s third adaptation report, submitted to the government under the Climate Change Act.

Even with a 2°C temperature rise compared to pre-industrial levels, key projections within the report include:

• Winter rainfall is expected to increase by approximately 6% by the 2050s and by 8% by the 2080s, compared to a 1981-2000 baseline.
• Summer rainfall is expected to decrease by approximately 15% by the 2050s compared to a 1981-2000 baseline.
• London’s sea level is expected to rise by between approximately 23cm by the 2050s and 45cm by the 2080s.
• River flows will be more extreme. Peak flows are expected to be up to 27% higher in the 2050s, while in the summer months river flows could be 82% lower by as soon as 2050.
• Public water supplies are expected to require more than 3.4 billion extra litres of water per day if no action is taken before 2050.

Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Chair of the CCC’s Adaptation Committee, said:

We’re pleased to see the Environment Agency publishing its latest climate change adaptation plan. This road map will be vital to ensuring our natural and built environments are well adapted to the significant changes in our climate taking place today, with more to come. We urge all Government agencies, authorities, regulators and businesses big and small to get their adaptation plans together before the deadline on 31 December. We look forward to assessing the EA’s plan in early 2022 as part of our independent appraisal for Government of similar plans from across the public and private sectors.

The report also sets out five climate “reality checks” to make the case for urgent action on adaptation:

1. The Environment Agency alone cannot protect everyone from increasing flood and coastal risks: rising sea levels and extreme winter rainfall will mean it will not be technically, socially, and economically viable to protect every community. Instead, alongside constructing and maintaining defences, we must help communities learn to live with risk, minimise damage, and return to normal life quickly.
2. Climate change makes it harder to ensure clean and plentiful water: existing issues with water stress will be exacerbated by climate change bringing altered temperature and rainfall patterns. Measures to tackle these pressures are underway, but a strategic approach to water management and faster progress on improvements are needed.
3. Environmental regulation is not yet ready for a changing climate: climate change is increasing the impact of environmental incidents, for example lower river levels means pollutants diffuse slower and have a greater impact. It is vital that environmental policy and legislation keeps pace with the escalating challenge to allow us and other regulators to protect the environment.
4. Ecosystems cannot adapt as fast as the climate is changing: industrialisation and urbanisation have left the UK as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, and climate change means wildlife in England will continue to be altered. We must recognise importance of natural ecosystems in supporting life (including our own) in our health and wellbeing. Nature must be the essential foundation of development, rather than being seen as an impediment.
5. There will be more and worse environmental incidents: both natural and man-made environmental incidents will be made worse by climate change. This will place an increased burden on emergency response, and divert resources from other activities.

The report highlights how the Environment Agency is working with government, businesses and communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change, including delivering a record £5.2 billion programme of new flood and coastal defences over the next six years.

While the risks are serious, they can be addressed by early action, and the report also sets out how the Environment Agency is meeting those challenges.

This includes:

• Working with government, businesses and communities to implement the Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy and our vision to create a nation ready for and resilient to flooding and coastal change up to 2100.
• Working with water companies and Ofwat on the National Framework for Water Resources, which sets out how we will address future challenges to water supply.
• Helping to deliver the £10 million Natural Environment Readiness Fund, helping to support projects in attracting private sector finance into investment in the natural environment.
• Focusing on nature based approaches, restoring and creating peatlands, wetland and other habitats to create climate-resilient habitats for wildlife, reduce flood risk, improve water quality and improve access to greenspace for people
• Using our role as a regulator to help businesses understand and reduce their climate impact and prepare for the future.

Further information

The UK Government is committed to adaptation as well as mitigation. Two of the government’s main goals COP26 are:

1. Secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach. Countries are being asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century. To deliver on these stretching targets, countries will need to accelerate the phase-out of coal, curtail deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles, encourage investment in renewables.
2. Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats. The climate is already changing and it will continue to change even as we reduce emissions, with devastating effects. At COP26 we need to work together to enable and encourage countries affected by climate change to: protect and restore ecosystems, build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives